India to add 100 merchant ships to its fleet in 5 years: Sarbananda Sonowal | Economy & Policy News

India will add 100 vessels to its merchant ship fleet over the next five years, Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal said on Tuesday. 

The government has been attempting to woo foreign shipowners to reflag their vessels under the Indian flag. Reflagging a vessel means changing the country where a ship is registered to ensure it sails under a new national flag. 

It is considered important as the flag of the vessel controls the tonnage of the vessel and generates revenue from it. In September 2025, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had cited India’s ₹6 trillion freight bill to foreign vessels to meet India’s trading needs.

Sonowal, while addressing the Sagar Samvad conference of the National Shipping Board (a statutory body advising the government on the shipping matters), said that the government’s interventions were aimed at increasing Indian tonnage. 

Major shipowners like Danish giant AP Moller-Maersk, French container mover CMA CGM, and Japanese carrier Mitsui O.S.K. Lines have reflagged their vessels to the Indian flag in the past. A slew of new such registrations are also in the pipeline, senior government officials said. These include the world’s fifth largest carrier Hapag-LLoyd and Japanese shipping line NYK, officials said. 

Several constraints that the Indian shipping industry faces continue to remain unaddressed, Indian National Shipowners Association Chief Executive Officer Anil Devli said at a panel discussion, adding that it costs an Indian shipowner more to run its business than a foreign shipowner due to several taxes. 

The amalgamation of tax burdens makes the cost 16-20 per cent higher for Indian shipowners, he said. The panel proposed a five-pillar road map: fiscal reform, assured cargo support, access to competitive financing, regulatory streamlining, and improved ease of doing business. 

The measures, if adopted, could help India add 100 ships to its fleet within five years — a step toward the Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047 target of ranking among the world;s top five ship owning nations, the panel argued. 

The Indian flag currently has 1,600 vessels, officials said. The government is running a shipbuilding financial assistance scheme to provide support to shipyards in building vessels. It is also running a shipyard development scheme to subsidise setting up and expansion of shipyards.